July 9: “I work for India’s freedom because my swadeshi teaches me that, being in it and having inherited her culture, I am fittest to serve her and she has prior claim to my service.” –Gandhi (Young India, April 3, 1924) Swadeshi is a Sanskrit term comprised of two parts: swa- meaning “one’s own” and… read more
Posts by Stephanie Van Hook
“Sparks of hope in Koodankulam”–Daily Metta
July 8: “This force is to violence and, therefore, to all tyranny, all injustice, what light is to darkness.” –Gandhi (Young India, November 3, 1927) In late 2013, a few of us from the Metta Center journeyed to India to learn about the Gandhian movement today. The group that stands out in our minds was… read more
“Transforming a Neo-Nazi March”–Daily Metta
July 7: “Violence can only be effectively met by nonviolence.” Gandhi (Harijan, March 31, 1941, p. 433) What would you do if a Neo-Nazi group chose your town for a yearly march? Would you challenge them with violence or nonviolence? The village of Wunsiedel, Germany, boasting just over 1,000 inhabitants was faced with this dilemma.… read more
“Transforming public opinion”–Daily Metta
July 6 “Non-cooperation is the quickest method of creating public opinion.” -Gandhi (Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 344) Non-cooperation does not always mean stopping traffic or getting arrested. In fact, such tactics can be problematic: they can alienate people who need to get to work and are not part of the problem, maybe they were… read more
“It’s within our hearts”–Daily Metta
July 5: “To seek God one need not go on a pilgrimage or light lamps or burn incense before or anoint the image of the deity or paint it with red vermilion. For He [sic] resides in our hearts.” –Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi, Pyarelal, 1946) When he was 24 and living in South Africa at a… read more
“USA Independence Reconsidered”–Daily Metta
July 4: “Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 29, 1925) When Gandhi met with the British Viceroy Lord Irwin after his imprisonment following the 1930 Salt Satyagraha, they shared a pot… read more
“Happiness–Key to Economics”–Daily Metta
July 3: “The extension of the law of nonviolence in the domain of economics means nothing less than the introduction of moral values as a factor to be considered in regulating international commerce.” –Gandhi (Young India, December 26, 1924) Morality in economics sounds like an oxymoron. I can just hear it: leave morality to your… read more
“Gandhi and the Problem of Evil”– Daily Metta
July 2: “If you feel tempted to regard anybody as evil, the odds are that the evil is within you.” –Gandhi (Harijan, April, 28, 1946) Gandhi had very few possessions: a pair of glasses, two pairs of homemade sandals for different occasions, some books, a spinning wheel, and little else. Each item has a story… read more
“The legend of Lucia Zenteno”–Daily Metta
July 1: “To me it [nonviolence] is one of the most active forces in the world. It is like the sun that rises upon us unfailingly from day to day. Only if we would but understand it, it is infinitely greater than a million suns put together. It radiates life and light and peace and… read more
“Faith is not a delicate flower”–Daily Metta
June 30: “Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither under the slightest stormy weather. Faith is like the Himalaya mountains which cannot possibly change.” Gandhi (Harijan, January 25, 1934) Growing up, for some reason, I thought that ‘faith’ meant believing in and defending something because someone else said it was right, even though… read more
